Hello
Do the hours spent travelling to and from the person being cared for at their home count towards the 35hr requirement for carers allowance please?
Thank you
Hi @Bonny_2011 The 35 hour requirement is nominal: the main criteria is that the person cared for receives a disability benefit at the right level. The 35 hours is assumed, and I’ve never heard of a carer having to justify that.
What I have found is that most carers don’t estimate time very well, and think that what they do takes less time than it really does. For example, most people will tell you it takes about 3 minutes for a full kettle to boil. Most kettles will take about 5 or 6 minutes. When filling in forms, people would say it takes them five minutes to help someone get dressed, but in fact it takes longer - dressing yourself takes about five minutes, depending on what you’re wearing and how fiddly the fastenings are. Helping someone else takes at least twice as long, and often longer.
As for the travelling, I personally wouldn’t count it. That said, care companies shave off time for caring to allow travel to the next client. I don’t think it matters.
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Talk to the helpline. They gave me details of a relevant case.
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Hi @Bonny_2011, It is best to email the helpline about a query like this rather than call - the address is advice@carersuk.org
Best wishes,
Jane